RAND Corporation

The RAND Corporation, according to the corporate web site, is a "nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis" and maintains that pursuing its core objectives of "quality" and "objectivity" requires it to be nonpartisan. It was started in 1945 as Project RAND by the Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the U.S. Air Force. RAND separated to form a free standing organization in 1946, ostensibly to advance its brief but ambitious articles of incorporation : “To further and promote scientific, educational, and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare and security of the United States of America.”

"Covert foreign policy became the standard mode of operation after World War II, which was also when Ford Foundation became a major player for the first time. The institute most involved in classified research was Rand Corporation, set up by the Air Force in 1948. The interlocks between the trustees at Rand, and the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie foundations were so numerous that the Reece Committee listed them in its report (two each for Carnegie and Rockefeller, and three for Ford). Ford gave one million dollars to Rand in 1952 alone, at a time when the chairman of Rand was simultaneously the president of Ford Foundation."

"Throughout its history it has conducted innumerable studies, often with world-changing results, involving technologies both military and civilian. Some of its most exceptional work, though, has gone unsung, for a number of reasons.... As a result, a certain mystique has always surrounded the RAND Corporation, with both supporters and detractors attributing to it virtually limitless influence and achievements. What is undeniable is that RAND has played a central role in the creation of critical technological developments since World War II, most prominently during the nail-biting era of the Cold War."

"Two-thirds of Rand's research involves national security issues. This is divided into Project Air Force, the Arroyo Center (serving the needs of the Army), and the National Defense Research Institute (providing research and analysis for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the defense agencies). The other third of Rand's research is devoted to issues involving health, education, civil and criminal justice, labor and population studies, and international economics."

More recent sources such as RAND’s 2005 annual report show less than one-half of RAND's research involves national security issues with clients ranging from fortune 500 corporations to other non profit institutions. Their research is frequently cited by the media and is ranked fifth in the latest survey of think tank media citations by FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting) which categorizes RAND as "Centrist".


 * James A. Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer (2011)
 * Michael D. Rich, Executive Vice President (2011)

Trustees
Accessed February 2011:


 * Paul G. Kaminski (Chairman), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Technovation, Inc.; Former U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology
 * Philip Lader (Vice Chairman), Chairman, The WPP Group; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James's
 * Barbara Barrett, President and Chief Executive Officer, Triple Creek Ranch; Former U.S. Ambassador to Finland
 * Richard J. Danzig, Chairman, Center for a New American Security; Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy
 * Francis Fukuyama, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University
 * Richard Gephardt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Gephardt Group Government Affairs; Former U.S. Congressman
 * Pedro José Greer, Jr., M.D., Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Florida International University College of Medicine
 * John W. Handy, Vice Chairman, American Shipping and Logistics Group; General, United States Air Force, Retired
 * Bonnie Hill, President, B. Hill Enterprises, LLC
 * Lydia H. Kennard, Former Executive Director, Los Angeles World Airports
 * Ann McLaughlin Korologos, Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute; Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
 * Peter Lowy, Chief Executive Officer, Westfield, LLC
 * Michael Lynton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment
 * Ronald L. Olson, Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
 * Paul H. O'Neill, Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
 * Michael K. Powell, Former Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; Senior Advisor, Providence Equity Capital; Chairman, MK Powell Group
 * Donald B. Rice, Retired President and Chief Executive Officer, Agensys, Inc.; Former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force
 * James E. Rohr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group
 * Hector Ruiz, Former Chairman, GLOBALFOUNDRIES; Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
 * Carlos Slim Helú, Honorary Life Chairman, Grupo CARSO, S. A. de C.V.
 * Donald Tang, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, CITIC Securities International Partners Group (CSIP Group)
 * James A. Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer, RAND Corporation
 * Robert C. Wright, Former Vice Chairman, General Electric; Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NBC Universal; Chairman and Cofounder, Autism Speaks; Senior Advisor, Lee Capital

Trustees Emeriti
 * Harold Brown, Counselor, Center for Strategic and International Studies; Former U.S. Secretary of Defense
 * Frank C. Carlucci, Chairman Emeritus, The Carlyle Group; Former U.S. Secretary of Defense

Trustees (2009)
The following are listed as RAND's Board of Directors.


 * Ronald L. Olson, Chairman
 * Arl Bildt
 * Harold Brown
 * Frank Charles Carlucci III
 * Lovida H. Coleman, Jr.
 * Robert Curvin
 * Pedro Jose Greer, Jr.
 * Rita E. Hauser
 * Karen Elliott House
 * Jen-Hsun Huang
 * Paul G. Kaminski
 * Bruce Karatz
 * Lydia H. Kennard
 * Ann McLaughlin Korologos
 * Philip Lader
 * Arthur Levitt
 * Lloyd N. Morrisett
 * Paul H. O'Neill
 * Amy B. Pascal
 * Patricia Salas Pineda
 * John Edward Porter
 * John S. Reed
 * Donald B. Rice
 * James E. Rohr
 * Jerry I. Speyer
 * James A. Thomson
 * James Q. Wilson

Advisory Boards

 * Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School Board of Governors


 * Promising Practices Network (PPN) Board of Advisors


 * RAND Arroyo Center Policy Committee


 * RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy (CAPP) Advisory Board


 * RAND Center for Corporate Ethics and Governance


 * RAND Center for Global Risk and Security (CGRS) Advisory Board


 * RAND Center for Health and Safety in the Workplace


 * RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy (CMEPP) Advisory Board


 * RAND Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy Advisory Board


 * RAND Europe Board of Trustees


 * RAND Gulf States Policy Institute Advisory Board


 * RAND Health Board of Advisors


 * RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment


 * RAND Institute for Civil Justice Board of Overseers


 * RAND National Defense Research Institute Advisory Board


 * RAND Project AIR FORCE Steering Group


 * RAND-Qatar Policy Institute Board of Overseers

Profiles
The following is according to the Wikipedia article on the RAND Corporation.

Project RAND
RAND was set up, in 1945, by the USAAF as Project RAND, under contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company, and in 1945 they released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship. In May 1948, Project RAND was separated from Douglas and became an independent organization.

Locations
"RAND has four principal locations, Santa Monica, California; Arlington, Virginia (just outside Washington, D.C.); Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and RAND Europe headquarters in Leiden, The Netherlands. RAND Europe also has offices in Berlin, Germany, and Cambridge, the United Kingdom." Since 2003, RAND has also operated the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute in Doha, Qatar.

Critical Books

 * Alex Abella, Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire (Harcourt, 2008) see review

Contact information
General information:

RAND P.O. Box 2138 1776 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 E-mail: correspondence AT rand.org Web: http://www.rand.org/about/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Rand Institute for Civil Justice
 * Roger Molander

External articles

 * RAND Electronic Documents. Search by category.
 * Rand Corportation, NameBase.org.
 * Karen DeYoung, "The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue. U.S. Needs to Devise a Different 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, Study Advises," Washington Post, July 21, 2007.
 * Chalmers Johnson, "A Litany of Horrors: America's University of Imperialism", TomsDispatch, April 29, 2008.